Schoolboy murder : Accused not to be tried as adult, for now

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 10

More than a year after a seven-year-old schoolboy “Prince” was brutally killed in a Gurugram school, the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday made it clear that the accused would not be tried as an adult — at least for the time being.

Setting aside the decision of the juvenile justice board to treat him as an adult for the purpose of his trial, Justice Daya Chaudhary told it to take a fresh decision in the matter. The judgment in the case was not yet available.

Christened Bholu by the trial court, a Class XI student of Gurugram-based “Vidyalaya” was proceeded against after the victim “Prince” was found murdered in the boys' washroom in the school on September 8, 2017.

Already dotted with twists and turns, the case had seen the registration of an FIR against the bus conductor Ashok Kumar for murder under Section 302 of the IPC, besides provisions of the Arms Act and the POCSO Act.

The CBI subsequently gave a clean chit to Ashok, arrested as the prime accused by the Gurgaon police, within a few hours of the murder. An Additional Sessions Judge subsequently discharged Ashok. But the juvenile in conflict with law is facing trial in the matter.